A lesson Learned is Intelegance Earned
by Genkai-chan
Summary: Edward and Alphonse, Elric, the Elric Brothers. Who are they really, I’m sure they have many reasons, only they can comprehend, but what happens when it all crumbles like ashes? 2'd chapter is up! R and R more to come!
1. Kokoro

**Genkai-chan: This is a slightly different take on Hughes and Roy and Maes's death. Review please!

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Well, we all know whenever Hughes brings up finding a wife to Roy, Roy gets so mad he hangs up, but what happens when Roy gets to the bottom of things?

Roy Mustang is a very proud man, he is in the Military, he's a Colonel at age 29 and he can use Fire alchemy with just a snap of his fingers. Not much gets to Mustang, he dates many women and teases some of his friends. All in all Mustang has a pretty good life, well with the exception of a certain War, but we won't go there today...

Ring...riiing...rinnng...ring...ring...

"Hello?" Second Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye asked after picking up the phone. "Yes, I will...alright, Sir." Hawkeye sighed handing the phone to Roy Mustang who was tapping his pen on his desk. There was no need for words here, just the usual.

"Heya, Roy, did Riza get to the phone before you did?" Maes Hughes asked in a high pitched voice. For someone who works in investigations, he asks stupid questions. Or maybe he just wants to talk to his best buddy more.

"Get to the point." Mustang growled, this was the fifth time in the last hour that Maes called Roy, tying up the line and wasting both their time at work.

"Aww, where's the, 'Oh hi Maes, how are you?'" Hughes pouted, sounding like a child. Really, did Maes Hughes have reasons for calling Roy Mustang like this every chance he got to sneak to the phone?

"Now." Roy glared, his bare hand gripping the phone tighter with every second his friend spent being stupid.

"Oh, alright. You're no fun." Maes gave up for now on annoying Mustang. Yes as a matter of fact, Maes did have reasons for his actions.

"Hughes..." Roy started, he wanted to get to the bottom of this, now.

"Oh! Roy guess what?" Maes said, cutting in. Maes Hughes did seem like such a happy and peppy guy, but deep down...

"..." Roy Mustang, dared not encourage then man on the other line, no way.

"Well I saw this friend of Garcia's and I think you and her would be a great husband and wife-" Maes paused, waiting for Roy to yell and slam the phone down, causing Hawkeye to shoot at the Colonel, but...

"Hughes..." Roy sighed, poor guy, he is at the end of his rope, if it even started that is.

"Oh you're still there? Usually you hang up by now." Maes blinked and his olive eyes traveled to the phone, his attention now fully on his friend.

"Yes I am! Now tell me something..." Mustang said, so calmly it was a bit frightening, even Hawkeye stopped her work, she knew the Colonel should've been off by now...

"Yeees?" Maes sang, smiling. What an odd fellow, that Hughes...

"Why?" Roy muttered looking down at his desk, his black eyes starting hard at his papers.

"Why, what?" Maes urged, this is a surprise for their usual antics, Maes couldn't help but be interested now.

"Why the hell do you keep calling? Why you do want me to find a wife? Why do you always talk about your family? Why, why, why!" Roy said loudly, Roy Mustang wanted to know why...

"Kokoro." Maes said and hung up, just as if Roy would. Maes's only answer to Roy's many questions; Kokoro, it means heart.

"Koko- Maes? Maes? Hughes! Are you there? Why did you hang up?" He asked and looked at the phone and set it back in the receiver. He'll call back, he always does...

Maes Hughes didn't call back at all the rest of the day, or the rest of that week. Mustang found out from Alex Armstrong that Edward and Alphonse were with Maes Hughes in Central. Roy tried to call Hughes. But Maes never answered, he was always told Hughes was busy or something, but Mustang knew better. He also learned that Maes wouldn't always call back...

Roy had had enough, he got on a train to Central with Hawkeye, and he was going to talk to Maes Hughes.

When Roy reached Central, the news hit him, hit him hard. Hard as anything you can think of really...

Roy Mustang was a proud man, proud to say that Brigadier General Maes Hughes was his best friend, and maybe only the one.

Mustang stood in front of Maes's grave, "It's been eight long years...since I head you..." Roy spoke, ever since Hughes died in action and the killer most likely got away, ever since Hughes uttered the answer, Roy kept thinking...

"Kokoro...heart, soul, spirit...what do you mean...?" Roy muttered running a smooth hand through his hair, it was getting thinner now that he was thirty-seven. Wow, thirty-seven, Roy didn't think he'd be that young to even think about death, let alone witness it.

Roy took out a photo of him and Maes when they were maybe, twenty-two...

An envelope fell out of Roy's coat pocket, 'To Roy. M' it read.

Roy Mustang opened it and reread it out loud, as if to comprehend it more in the company of Hughes him self.

It was dated the day Roy asked Maes why everything was, the way it was...

"Dear Roy, I hung up on you because you have all the fun. Kokoro means heart, or something like it...Anyway, I guess I should answer your questions fully now that I have my phone privileges taken away for the next year. Can they do that? What if there's an emergency? Or I gotta talk to you? Oh well I'll get on with something you can read without killing the letter. I keep calling so, you won't forget me. I mean, I'm getting closer to something secret in the Military and I don't know what'll happen. I know we're friends, but, ah, you'll understand when you're older. Okay, why do I want you to have good wife? Well easy, so there's someone else to get on your case about health, no not just that. It's so you have someone else in your life, duh! And lastly, I talk about my family so they aren't forgotten Roy, follow the clues I left behind, okay? Okay! Well I better go, it's Meatloaf Monday and I need my food, though it isn't even comparable to Garcia's food. Later Roy." Roy ended the letter, he had to laugh, he was imagining Maes writing the letter, talking to him self, being Maes...

Roy looked at the letter in his hands, he folded it neatly, and back into his pocket it went. Roy learned, that Maes wouldn't always call back like he used to, no more jokes, or one liner's about getting a wife, or going easy on Edward…

Times has passed, eight year since the death of his friend but now, but now he understood…

What Maes Hughes did, had reason to it, you just had to see the kokoro in it...

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**Genkai: Review and I'll make more like these.**


	2. Mainichi

**Genkai: Yo, again! I'm writing this a bit early, so I don't know if anyone reviewed….so…yeah. My take on when Winry, Al and Ed are in Rush Valley.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own.

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Edward and Alphonse, Elric, the Elric Brothers. Who are they really, I'm sure they have many reasons, only they can comprehend, but what happens when it all crumbles like ashes?

Edward yawned, he didn't want to spend the night sleeping on a park bench like some homeless guy, be he hadn't a choice, Winry had run off.

"Brother, do you think Winry is alright by her self?" Alphonse asked, he didn't feel the summer's cool breeze like his older brother could.

"She wouldn't be, by her self, if she hadn't run off like that, what's her problem anyway?" The blonde muttered, his human hand brushing the large bump, Winry's wrench had smacked him with earlier.

"Well she has her reasons for being upset, Brother…" Al said trying to reason with him…

"Whatever." Edward said and got up, the sun had already set and he was hungry, as usual.

"Where are you going, now?" Alphonse asked, he was in a suit of armor, but he still felt drained of his energy and didn't feel like chasing Edward around Rush Valley now.

"To look for some food…" Ed said and walked off, leaving Al to stay and wait in the oncoming darkness, the only light, a street light…

Edward groaned in agony, all the shops were closed, poor Edward, no food tonight! He was just about to go back to his little brother when he saw Winry outside with another, the girl from earlier at the Automail Competition.

"They're real jerks! I can't believe he'd use Alchemy to cheat, with my automail!" Winry was ranting to the other girl. "They never tell me anything, and all he cares about it having real arms, I bet he thinks if he had his real arm, he'd win in an Automail Competition, well not a chance! Edward has no idea how I feel it's so-" Winry was cut off by the girl….

"Maybe you should tell them, how you feel." She said strongly, Winry nodded and they walked off.

Edward smirked, he knew Winry would come back to them apologizing for her actions in no time.

"Brother, there you are, it's getting even darker…" Al's concerned voice slung him back to reality; Ed had gone back to Alphonse, not motioning what he saw.

"Yeah well I'll be fine, let's get some shut eye." Edward said and sat back down on the bench and Al was next to him. Edward dozed off, curled into a protective ball.

"Brother, I really wish you'd stop being as cold as your Automail…and bring out the Human side of it more, all you use it for is fighting, you never try and use it when you shake someone's hand, to wave…." Al thought out loud, once he was sure Edward was sleeping of course. "I still don't know….why you won't me help with our mission to restore our bodies." Al sighed and stopped talking out loud; he didn't want to cause suspicion to any passersby.

Morning rose and Edward sat up, "Hey, morning Al." He smiled and got up, straightening his clothes out, Al got up silently.

"Edward, Alphonse!" Winry called and they turned in the direction of her voice.

"Winry! Are you okay? What happened after you ran off?" Alphonse asked happy that she was talking to them.

"I'm great! Edward….?" She blinked when she saw Edward smirking, "what's up?" She asked.

"I knew she'd come back." He said and received two looks of puzzlement. "I saw her last night, talking to some girl…." Edward explained and Al put his hands hips, angry.

"Why didn't you tell me, it would've saved me all my worrying!" Al exclaimed.

"I wanted to surprise you?" Ed blinked, not quiet the reaction Ed was expecting.

"Edward, I'm leaving." Winry said firmly.

"Okay, wait! Why?" Ed asked and gaped at her calmness.

"Why, because you burn down your house, break your automail, get hurt, use alchemy, make me worry, and hurt your brother!" Winry said tears welling up in her blue eyes.

"What are you babbling about?" Edward asked.

"You're so stupid! You don't know what you're doing to me, I wait for you, every day, a call or a letter will do or even you coming back, not just when you need a new arm either!" Winry continued. "And Alphonse has to go with you, he wants to help you, ed and you won't let him!" She glared and ran off, Edward turned to Al.

"Well?" Ed said tapping his foot on the ground, "You're with my side right/" Ed asked.

"Why does there have to be sides!" Al cried and ran after Winry, calling her name as his armor made loud chunky noises…

"Al, Alphonse!" Edward yelled and ran after him; soon they all caught up to each other at the train station. Which is quite a sprint, I must say.

"I said, I'm leaving you this time, so you don't have to leave me." Winry repeated and got on the train.

"How long?" Ed asked as it started to pull away…

"Mainichi!" She yelled back.

"Nice going brother, you just lost us our best friend!" Al said hysterically.

"Everyday…? Why would she be gone everyday?" Ed muttered….

Meanwhile Winry sighed, sitting comfortably on a train, she didn't care where it was going, as long as it would take her away.

'Those boys….mainly I'm mad at Ed though….' She thought, folding her arms and looked down at her lap. Winry took a while to get home, she made a stop in Central, she meet up with Sheska and Winry and her have become great friends.

Winry could move on without d or Al, they left her so many times to fall back into danger, now she could leave them and fall back into life…

Winry looked out the window of her home in Rosenbul and sighed, she had more customers from the State who need metal limbs to fight on, Pinako and her reluctantly agreed, they didn't want to be party of the cause and effect.

'I'm gone Mainichi….like they once were….' She thought and turned back to her work, she thought of them, and wondered if they thought of her.

Mainichi was punishment for all of them, Winry concluded….

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**Genkai-chan: Hmm, didn't turn out as well as I planned, please give me two people to do, or a time with a conflict…well review please!**


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